Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Deficit of trust Tengku Adnan said Umno may have been guilty of resting on its laurels following Election 2013 but the UMNO election be the electoral gamechanger
For nine years, NAJIB kept the humiliation close to his chest, of how Mahathir vetoed change agenda when he first became prime minister
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
As expected, Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim’s offer of peace and national dialogue on the eve of the country’s Independence Day left members of Umno’s top decision-making body flummoxed and blustering, with those with vested interests the ones to object the loudest.
“Umno leaders who always find fault with Anwar so silly. To ask Why Now is banal if not stupid,” mocked former Umno leader Zaid Ibrahim on Twitter.
Zaid was referring to news that the Umno supreme council had discussed and even made a “collective decision” at their meeting this afternoon, hours after Anwar’s proposal.
“We reached a collective decision on the matter but it is not for me to announce,” Malaysian Insider quoted Hishammuddin Hussein as saying.
“It’s not something we want to make a big hue and cry about. The country will still be around tomorrow.”
It is telling that Prime Minister Najib Razak, the Umno president, took care to rush off before the meeting ended, possibly so as to evade any blame and to shield himself ahead of the party’s election in October.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Umno secretary-general Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor This devil is one of the Satan’s influence?
Among the Umno supreme council members who spoke out most vehemently against Anwar today were Mukhriz Mahathir, the son of former premier Mahathir Mohamad, and Khairy Jamaluddin, the son-in-law of another former premier Abdullah Badawi.
Both Mukhriz and Khairy are eyeballing the PM’s chair for themselves, and should there be any unity government formed, they would have to compete against the young talent in Pakatan including Nurul Izzah, Azmin Ali, Rafizi Ramli, Husam Musa and Nizar Jamaluddin.
It is not surprising that both Mukhriz and Khairy have described Anwar’s offer to start a dialogue with BN as an act of desperation.
“He wants to talk about this now, after losing in the elections and losing in court on election petitions. To me, he has no credibility to make this offer now. He should just bring this up in Parliament if he is really serious. But after losing in the election petitions, he is making this offer. We cannot accept this,” Mukhriz Mahathir said.
“We have no problem in holding a dialogue, but don’t try to show that he (Anwar) is the one trying to unite the country. We have to know what are the terms of reference for the dialogue. We must be sincere in holding the dialogue,” Bernama reported Khairy as describing Anwar’s offer as an “act of desperation”
For Umno, the biggest hurdle to victory at the 13th general election is the perception that it is a corrupt and elitist party that practises cronyism, its secretary-general said today.
Umno insiders told Malaysia Chronicle that whatever decision Najib announces in the coming days, talk of a “unity government” would dominate the topic of conversation especially in Umno as its election neared. This despite the fact that Anwar had only called for a dialogue between the Barisan Nasional government and the Pakatan Rakyat opposition to discuss the major issues currently disconcerting the nation and disrupting its progress.
“Unity government cannot be immediate as even Anwar himself has said so. It is just too complex and while Umno and the Malay community as a whole would welcome a peace-making offer, there are many vested interests involved,” an Umno watcher told suara
“Some of the warlords, and you should know who, will have to make way. Pakatan has many talented people who are also young and clean. They will make the Umno warlords look bad. Do you think they will agree to a unity government if it disadvantages them? Of course not, so it is no surprise Najib has to watch out for this group. They will rock the boat, destabilize the country, anything to make sure that they don’t get shaken off the durian tree by Najib, so to speak.”
“But let me tell you a secret, the dialogue has actually already started. Anwar is not expected to take up any government position that will undermine the position of other key leaders. (Talk of) unity government will take centre stage. The supreme council will ensure Najib will emerge a stronger president after the Umno election.”
Unity talks is probably one of the most positive political news that the silent majority Rakyat has ever heard since the end of the last general election.
The initial sceptical response from some Umno quarters are just basic ego chest-thumping exercise of some typical politicians. Every politician would like to have the luxury of a last say and an upper hand over all matters.
There are many possible benefits of the roundtable talks. The opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim has highlighted in his pre-Merdeka olive branch speech that the country is in an urgent need to address the deteriorating economy, racial and religious harmony, law and order issues.
If the roundtable talks is conducted in an open, free, frank and practical manner, it can tackle the multiple ills that our nation is facing at the moment. The country is in such a state of disarray on many areas that Umno alone will not be able to tackle the problems
posed.
The unity talk could also mean a possible checkmate on Mahathir’s hands on our nation’s affairs. No wonder Mukriz Mahathir made his chest-thumping reaction like; “But after losing in the election petitions, he is making this offer. We cannot accept this”.
Yes, of course, his father will not be able to accept this. Perkasa will not accept this too if they have their way.
If Najib is working positively with Pakatan, the forces that support him in Umno might have greater strength in resisting Mahathir’s marching orders from the background.
The unity talks also give hope for our nation to heal the current racial and religious rifts that might take us down the path of self-implosion. This is probably the last hope for a positive change or a turn around before we descent into an uglier scenario that might put our country back a few decades.
If in a hypothetical scenario where Najib loses his Umno presidency in the coming party election, the Parliament might still be able to uphold Najib’s Premiership with the support from the Pakatan camp and others who thinks that the country is going in a wrong direction.
The “others” support can come from parliamentarians that are from East Malaysia, MCA, MIC and Gerakan.
The Umno delegates who are for Muhyiddin Yasin (if he intends to run for the top post) will have to think twice before voting him in as the new Umno president. This might not necessarily guarantee him the position of the Prime Minister of the country.
Someone in the Parliament can put a no-confidence motion on Muhyiddin if Najib is sidelined. If the the motion of no confidence sails through, a conscience vote can be called in parliament to determine who enjoys the confidence on the floor of the parliament.
We must also remember that there will be some liberals within the Umno ranks like Tengku Razaleigh who are able to lend support to Najib’s Prime Ministership vote on the floor of our parliament, if push comes to shove.
This is a tectonic shift away from the tradition that Umno president is automatically the country’s prime minister, instead the representatives of the people voted in a prime minister through a conscience vote on the floor of our parliament. That will be a sign of
a maturing democracy for our country.
Some political pundits have predicted that talking with Pakatan will weakened Najib’s position in the run-up of the Umno party elections.
On the contrary Najib might have the upper hand if he manages to come out with a positive working framework with Pakatan before the Umno party elections.
The Umno delegates would have to think hard on the likelihood of changing the tradition of the presidency’s automatic Premiership of the country if they want Muhyiddin as their head.
However if Umno decides to re-instate Najib as the president of Umno, then the prime minister’s post is his and he will be able to secure the tradition of the Umno president’s automatic Premiership of the country.
Najib now might have an opening to secure his Prime Minister’s position by choosing to accept the offer of a roundtable talks with Pakatan.
Some Pakatan supporters might think that the unity talk is a bad move by Anwar Ibrahim. My question to those who opposed to this idea is what if our country descent into chaos like Egypt and Syria?
The frequent racial and religious rows are clear signs indicating to us that we are going towards that direction. Would that dead end direction help our country mature into a democracy?
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
